These Boots are Made for Walking

Dave’s Boots in Red Bluff…

For better and for worse, the internet has found a way to meet the needs of most households. And while most anything can be found there, there are still some things that are better found in-person. Footwear is one of them.

Dave’s Boots in Red Bluff is a now-rare local shop where customers can test footwear and get expert help in determining what will best fit their needs. “It gives people a place to come and check out the different items. Feel them, touch them, try them on, instead of just looking at a grid of them on a website,” says Josh Shepherd, second-generation owner of Dave’s. “Shoes are a still a thing that people like to try on and feel rather than just order online, especially a work boot that people are in all day, every day.

“Firefighters are probably my biggest customer. I can help them navigate the requirements they need to have correct footwear. I can help them find the correct options that are suitable for that profession,” he adds. “At the end of the day, shoe fit is all preference. What one guy likes, another one won’t. So it’s all about finding the right preference.” He notes that things to consider are if it’s important to be waterproof, an aggressive or smooth sole, hiking boot or work boot.

Firefighters, for example, are moving away from the classic logging boot style to a more European mountaineering style built purposefully for firefighting.

While only 38 years old, Shepherd has a lifetime of experience in the business, having grown up in the store his dad, Dave, founded in 1990. “I’ve been hanging out since I was 5 and started working at the store when I was 16,” he says. He graduated from Red Bluff High School and then moved on to Chico State for a degree in business before taking over for Dave in 2015. “I had worked here for a long time already. I was familiar with the business and shoe repair. Generally everything is pretty much the same with maybe a little more technology. There’s no more hand-written receipts.”

While Dave’s Boots stays busy as a retailer to everyone from firefighters to construction workers and hikers, it also has a thriving repair shop that extends the life of previous purchases. “Less and less things are made to be repaired, but luckily, around here, there are plenty of boots that can still be repaired,” says Shepherd. People want to keep their work boots and cowboy boots in good shape, especially handmade firefighting boots. “In the case of a re-sole, you can save the boot and not have to go through the break-in process again.”

Shepherd still enjoys the occasional company of his dad, Dave, who will come in to visit and help if he gets busy. Having started in the business himself while in high school, he is still a wealth of knowledge, especially with repairs. “He owned two repair shops in Ohio before he sold them and moved to Red Bluff,” says Shepherd. “He had worked in a shoe repair shop in high school that his friend’s dad owned.”

A third generation, Shepherd’s 1-year-old son Wade, sometimes also pops in for visits. It’s too soon to say if he’ll make extended stays once he’s 5, but the chance is there. For his part, Shepherd is doing everything he can to make sure the shop is there for Wade to have his first job.
“It’s nice to have locally owned businesses in Red Bluff,” he says, “to give people that option, to not have to go to Chico or Redding.” •

Dave’s Boots
478 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff
www.davesboots.com